A Different Sort of Odyssey
by Micromeichi
Summary: Siblings Ella and Dren create a guild in order to carve the path to the Legendary tree Yggdrasil. Along the way, they meet a variety of characters and many different twists and turns, but the true twists lies within them...
1. Setting up Shop

Ah, Tharsis. The city closest to the tree Yggdrasil, where hopes and dreams live on to become reality. Many a explorer come around in hopes in finding their way to the holy tree. And today, two more of these hopefuls walk through the gates.

"Come on, Dren! You're moving to slow!" This voice belonged to Ella Ezmaralda, a Dancer who was always smiling and happy.

Behind her was her own brother, Dren Ezmaralda, a prickly and finicky Medic with height challenges. The poor boy was carrying his weight in baggages. Being only 90 pounds, things could be worse out for him.

As the siblings reached the gates of Tharsis, a soldier greeted them. "Greetings!" He called out. "I suppose you all are the newest set of explorers? "

"You certainly bet we are!" Ella chirped, excitement bubbling up within her. The Dancer turned to her brother "Right, Dren?"

"Yeah..." Dren muttered from beneath the crushing weight upon his back.

"Well, in that case, you should check out the Explorer's Guild to get yourselves started" The soldier said, before promptly giving directions to such a place.

After thanking the kind guard, Ella and Dren went on their way, following the instructions precisely. They were soon met with a large building, with a bit of noise coming from it. Cautiously, the two walked in.

"WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL WERE YA THINKING, YA IDIOT!?" The first thing that met Ella and Dren's ears was a shout, a shout from a rather fiery female.

Ella's eyes scanned the room for a source of such a voice. Soon enough, she was met with the voice's owner, a blonde haired girl with green eyes, in a red pleated skirt and a hat with a peacock's feather drooping from it. She seemed to be pinning down a pale-skinned male with ruby red eyes, dressed mostly in black.

"How was I supposed to know that there were vicious baboons there!" The pinned male snapped, looking rather irritated but otherwise unfazed from his current situation.

"So, you've already caught eye of two of the most rowdy people in the city, hm?" Ella almost hit her head on the roof when she heard a voice behind them. She and Dren turned around to see a tan, muscular man with wisps of gray hairs on his head.

"Are you the guildmaster?" Ella asked, which was soon answered by a curt nod.

"And I suppose your new explorers looking for a guild?" The guildmaster asked in return, also replied with nodding. He scoped the room, then thought about something or another before finally sighing "It seems as if no guilds are up for recruitment, oh I'm going to regret this..." he said, before calling two names. "Dindae! Chase!"

Soon enough the two exact people the brother-sister team had seen just moments earlier now stood before the guildmaster, guilty sweat running down their faces.

"Yes sir?" The blonde asked, trying to keep from cracking under pressure.

"Dindae, Chase, you've been looking for a guild, yes?" The guildmaster asked, as the two stranger's eyes lit up.

"HELL YEAH WE'VE BEEN!" The fiery girl shouted. "Who ya got? Expert explorers from Etria? Retired knights from Lagaard? "

"Er, no...look behind you." The guildmaster said, pointing to Ella and Dren. As the two turned around, any twinkle in their eye faded.

"You can't be serious" The ivory-toned boy said, shoulders slumping.

"I'm serious. Now, what are your names, newcomers? " The guildmaster asked, nor exactly ecstatic about the Tharian's reactions.

"I'm Ella Ezmaralda! " Ella chirped, oblivious to the attitude of the others.

"Dren Ezmaralda. " Dren muttered, in just as a sour mood as the others.

"Well then, Ella, Dren, I'll let you get situated with your new guildmates, I'll get the paperwork..." The guildmaster said, before quickly making his leave.

The blonde girl shot a look at Ella and Dren. "The name's Dindae. Dindae Jones. I'm the best Landskecht in town, so your lucky I'm on your side." She remarked with an attitude.

"Chase Deity. Nightseeker. " The male of the two said, his face and voice emotionless.

"Well then, guys, we're going to make this work, right?" Ella said, a smile on her face. She turned to Dren."Right?"

"Right..." the other three said in unison, but there was one thing for sure.

It was going to take a bit to make this thrown - together guild 'right'


	2. Set Off

After talking, or should we say bickering among themselves, the guildmaster finally returned with a sheet of paper "Now, whoever you decided to be guild leader has to fill these-" he couldn't even finish his sentence before Ella snatched up the paper and started filling the form out.

Guild Name- Starlash  
Current members- Ella Ezmaralda, Dren Ezmaralda, Dindae Jones, Chase Deity  
Recruiting? - Yes  
Skyship-

Ella stopped at the part of Skyship. "We don't have a Skyship..." she stammered.

Dindae sighed. "I do, I guess I can let ya'll use it." She muttered. "It's called the Skystar"

Ella smiled at Dindae before jotting 'Skystar' on the form. The others signed their names, as did she, and handed it to the guildmaster, who took it without hesitation.

"Perfect, now, for your initiation mission, normally the Outland Count would assign you something in the labyrinth, but he's a tad busy, so until then, I have a task for you" the guildmaster said.

"Hmmm? What could that be?" Ella asked, furrowing her brow.

"There is a small maze east of here, the Old forest mine. Normally one would just have to map it out to pass, but we have some other problems...the Old Forest mine houses Iridescent Ore, which fuels Skyships, so your initiation mission is that of retrieving some..." The guildmaster explained.

Chase sighed. "Simple enough, come on guys" he said, before he and Dindae walked out into the streets of Tharsis, Ella and Dren tailing behind.

As they made their way to the City Gates, the group heard a shout from further up the street. "AFTER THAT CART!"

Moments after hearing the plea, a cart carrying lettuce whirred past the Starlash guild. It's driver was a…...6 year old girl?

Yes. A 6 year old girl.

However bizarre that might have sounded, Dindae and Chase seemed to know this little girl, as that shouted in unison "HAYLEY!" Before sprinting down the streets, leaving Dren and Ella having to scramble after them.

Soon enough, the cart halted at a stop, and the four explorers stopped to catch their breath as the little girl, apparently named Hayley, hopped off the cart and faced them. She seemed rather happy to see them.

"Chase-kun! Dindae-sama!" She chirped, and went up and hugged Dindae's leg. She had long white hair and wore a layered robe-dress of a variety of blues and browns.

"Hayley, what were you doing on that cart!? And not only that, you left the guild hall without permission!" Dindae said, her emotions a mixture of anger and concern.

_Hold on_ Ella thought _This little kid is an explorer!?_

"Sowwe, Dindae-sama…." Hayley muttered, letting go of the Landsknechts leg and looking at the cobblestone pavement.

Chase patted the child's head before turning to the rather confused siblings. "This is Hayley Menil, the strongest Runemaster in Tharsis."

"STRONGEST RUNEMASTER IN THARSIS!?" Ella and Dren's mouth dropped in surprise simultaneously. This little kid was not only a Runemaster, but the strongest one in the City?

"Ya heard em'" Dindae said, as Hayley started dancing around.

"Who are these people, Dindae-sama? " Hayley asked, looking over at Ella and Dren.

"I'm Ella, nice to meet you, Hayley! " Ella said energetically, crouching down so she was the same height as the little Runemaster.

"Dren." Her brother said, not showing any attempt to be friendly.

Dindae looked back at Hayley. "You shouldn't be so reckless. Remember that your only 6 years old. " She said, her eyes showing concern.

"I'm sorry, Dindae-sama...I just wanted to be a cool explorer like you and Chase-kun..." Hayley apologized, holding her hands behind her back and looking at the ground again. "I wanna be part of a guild..."

Ella's eyes lit up. "You could be part of our guild! " She chirped.

Hayley quickly looked up at Ella, blue eyes full of wonder. "Really!?" She asked in excitement.

"Of course!" Ella said happily. "You can come with us to the Old forest mine! "

Dindae, Chase, and Dren peered at Ella in an odd manner. She smiled at them, showing that this wasn't an odd joke. Dindae turned toward the city Gates. "Well then, come on guys, if the Starlash guild is to become official, we have to get a move on!" She said.

Hayley's next words made the moment that much more complete.

"Let's do it for Starlash!"


	3. A Friend Indeed

As the Starlash guild, now with one member extra, ventured to the city gates, they were met with a large hot-air balloon type of transportation. It was colored royal blue with yellow lines going around it.

"Is that the Skystar?" Ella asked. Dindae nodded.

"The one and only! Ain't it a beaut?" The Landskecht said, admiring the skyship.

"Well, might as well pack up and head out." Chase said, tossing a leather bag over his shoulder and walking onto the Skystar. The others went to follow.

Dindae fiddled around with the controls, pulling levers and pushing pedals. Soon enough, the skyship rose into the air and began to progress into the skies.

"Here we are! The Windy plains!" Dindae cheered. Ella stared out the Skyship window in awe. The hills seemed to last forever, the world covered in green.

"What are those things!?" Dren exclaimed. In the corner of Ella's eye, she saw as massive kangaroo, it's eyes meeting the Skyship, had it been closer. It was white and covered in black dots, like a cow but not so.

"Those are Bounding Beasts." Dindae explained as she drove. "Don't mess with them, they'll slaughter you." she warned.

"Like they did that lady?" Hayley asked, pointing to a blue-and-white dot on the surface below.

"WHAT!?" The others shouted, before Dindae put the pedal to the metal to zoom down to where Hayley had pointed.

When they had reached the ground, they found a girl with ghostly pale skin, a black skin-tight bodysuit with a blue slip on dress. She had a barbed tail and animal-like ears. She looked like she had taken a massive beating, and she weakly clutched a long staff.

"Dren! You're a medic! Do something!" Ella demanded, shaking her brother.  
"I willl….jussstt...leeetttt….meeee…..goooo….." Dren stammered, his words being dragged out from being shaken. Once Ella let him go, he took a roll of bandages and started treating the odd-looking girl's wounds, putting ointment on what wasn't still bleeding.

Soon enough, the girl gained consciousness. "W-where am I?" Her voice was delicate and sweet, but still shaky.

"You're in the Windy Plains." Chase explained, offering the girl a hand to help her get up. She took it but also ended up needing to use the Nightseeker as an anchor to stand.

"Are you alright, miss?" Hayley asked, looking up at the mysterious girl.

"Y-yes…..I'll be f-fine….." The girl muttered. "Thank you so much….."

"All ours." Dindae said with a friendly smile. "Now, could we earn the honor of learning your name?"

"H-hermonie…..Hermonie Otowa….." The girl stammered, attempting to bow.

"Oh! How pretty!" Ella chirped. "I'm Ella Ezmaralda!" Following the perky Dancer, the others made their introductions.

"Dren Ezmaralda, Ella's brother."

"Chase Deity, just your typical Tharian"

"Dindae Jones, best in class!"  
Hayley took Hermonie's hand. "I'm Hayley! I hope we get to become friends!"

Hermonie smiled shyly. "I guess…." She muttered.

"We should take you back to Tharsis, so we can get you some better medical attention." Dren begun. "I'm only a battle medic, so my healing only fixes minor injuries."

"Yeah, come on..." Dindae said, leading Hermonie to the Skystar. The odd looking girl followed without hesitation.

A while later, Hermonie was laying in a bed in the Saehimmer Inn's clinic. She had fully healed, thank goodness, but she had called the Starlash guild to ask of something.

"You want to join our guild!?" Dindae asked, rather surprised.

"If you'd allow me. I feel as if I have a debt to repay, and I do. I wish to aid you in your adventures, as my Aracany is something not likely found here..." Hermonie explained, a look of pleading in her cool blue eyes.

Dren was about to say something in protest when Ella interrupted him "Of course you can! The more, the merrier!"

Dren sighed "Let's go tell the guildmaster..."

"Oh, and another thing...here's this, as a gift of thanks..." Hermonie said as she got up, presenting the Starlash guild with a rainbow colored stone. "I found this before I got attacked...I'd like you all to have it" sure enough, that stone was the requested Iridescent Ore!

Dindae's eyes twinkled like precious jewels at the sight of it. She practicality snatched up the rock from Hermonie's hands. "NO TAKEBACKS!" she exclaimed.

"Is everything alright here?" A familiar voice came from behind Starlash. As they looked over, they saw the guildmaster.

"Oh, hi Guildmaster!" Ella chirped happily. Dindae hugged the Iridescent Ore, caressing it as if it were a child.

"Ah, looks like you've found the Iridescent O- Dindae." The guildmaster looked at Dindae as he tried to take the ore. Dindae refused to let go. After a couple minutes of playing keep-away, the guildmaster finally got the necessary rock.

"Thank you, more or less. Now, by the looks of it, you all have made some new allies?" The guildmaster asked, glancing at Hermonie and Hayley.

"Yup! And they're going to join the guild too!" Ella cheered. Hayley and Hermonie briefly made introductions.

The guildmaster smiled. "Well then, I guess the Starlash guild is ready for action, right? You seem to hold a lot of promise. Just like another guild..." he trailed off.

"Hmmm? Another guild?" Dindae asked, puzzled.

The guildmaster began to walk away. "Oh, I bet you'll see soon. Until we cross paths again, Starlash!"

"Until we meet again!" Ella said, waving the guildmaster farewell.

Chase spoke up. "Who's ready to find Yggdrasil?" He asked. In unison, the newly completed Starlash guild cheered

"WE ARE!"

Maybe this won't end out so poorly...


	4. The Other Guild

As the Starlash guild walked out of the inn, there was quite a bit of chatter amongst the group, until Dren had realized that his sister had gone missing

"Hey, have you guys seen Ella?" The pint sized medic asked. The group looked around. No sign of the dancer anywhere.

Several minutes later, the guild was on a search for their leader.

"ELLLLAAAA!"

"ELLA-CHAN!"

Little did they know, however, was that Ella was skipping along the streets of Tharsis, her pink pigtails bobbing in the air as she walked. She was looking for the 'other guild' the guild master had spoken of. Conveniently enough, a group of explorers was gathered at the City gates. They had a girl….on a leash?

"Heyo!" Ella chirped, cartwheeling over to the group.

The group consisted of a Nightseeker, a Landsknecht (who happened to be on the leash), a Fortress, a Sniper, a Runemaster, and a Medic.

"Hello there..." The Night Seeker said, a little cautious.

The Landsknecht just shot a nasty glare at the dancer. The other's introductions were much more welcoming, however.

"ELLA! STOP RUNNING OFF!" Dren exclaimed as the Starlash guild had found its leader.

"We might need a leash for you..." Hermonie sighed, closing her eyes as her shoulders slumped.

"Looks like someone already took your idea..." Dindae said, pointing at the leashed girl. Dren snickered a little at the sight.

"Hilarious..." the leashed Landsknecht muttered, closing her eyes so no one could see her roll them.

"On another note, who are you all?" Hermonie asked, tilting her head ever so slightly.

"We are the Nightless guild, and I am the leader, Yusisrea Salzar." Said the Nightseeker, before stepping back to let the other members of her guild perform their own introductions.

"I'm Alice Rozen." The Runemaster said, smiling broadly.

"I'm Daimon Marrow, and this is my brother, Roxas." Said the Sniper, as he gestured to his brother, the Fortress.

Next was the medic. "I'm Alexander, Alexander Lexus" he stated firmly.

The Landsknecht remained quiet, but the Starlash guild didn't seem to notice and went along with their own introductions. Chase, however, did take note and walked over to her. He held the leash in his hand and looked the girl in the eye, a rather soft expression on his face.

"Why would you keep such a beautiful girl on a leash?" He asked, before Yusisrea took the leash from him.

"That girl leveled an entire town!" The female Nightseeker snapped. "Be wary of her..."

"I personally think she's stunning...what's your name, miss?" Chase said, letting Yusisrea's warning fly completely over his head.

The Landsknecht looked at him with red eyes. "Icis, Icis La-Rain..." she said to him, her tone emotionless.

Chase smiled. "What a beautiful name...like that of a goddess..." he said to no one in particular.

Dindae seemed displeased with the way Chase was treating the girl. "Chase, could you stop flirting with her and recollect!?" She said with disgust.

Chase sighed before rejoining Starlash. Ella then chirped up again. "So, are you guys heading towards Yggdrasil?" She asked.

"Who isn't?" Alice said with a smirk. "I'm guessing you all have the same idea?"

"Hell yeah we do!" Dindae said, pumping her fist, as she was getting all worked up over just talking about it.

"We could work together!" Ella offered, her eyes twinkling at the thought.

"That sounds like a good idea actually..." Daimon said. Did Ella actually come up with a good idea!?  
" I suppose you all are heading into the Lush Woodlands." Yusisrea said, looking over at Starlash.

"Of course!" Ella chirped happily. "So are you in?"

Yusisrea looked at her guild, who all showed signs of agreement, aside from Icis who didn't care. She then turned back to Starlash, more specifically Ella."Sure" she said with a smile"

"Yipee!" Ella squealed, jumping up and down. "We can go right now!"

"We should probably stock up and rest up, first" Dren said, being the voice of reason in the current moment.

"I agree with Dren, I say we go to the inn." Alexander said in agreement.

"To the inn then?" Alice asked, glancing at the group. In unison, the majority of the group cheered.

"TOO THE INN!"


	5. At the Inn

A/N- Yay filler! No. This should be the shortest chapter for a while, but I was low on motivation and Google Docs is an asshole. _Note to self- Type directly to Wattpad and just copy and paste it to the other forums from there_.

The two guilds, now in a sudden alliance, made their way towards the only inn in Tharsis, the Saehimmer Inn. It wasn't very large, but enough to hold the bountiful amount of explorers the city held within it's walls. As the explorers walked through the twin oak wood doors, they were greeted by the sweet smell of fresh bread and meat. Dindae's mouth began to water already as Ella got the group a table.

Dalla, the innkeeper, handed them menus. As the two guilds looked over it, Hayley sneezed, as bitter air encased Hermonie's knee in ice. Ignoring the poor Vessel's condition, the group continued to ordering.

After Dalla left with the orders, the enchanted ice had grown, surronding Hermonie's entire leg. "A little help please..." she muttered.

The group's attention drew to the suffering Aracanist, who then took immediate action after taking grasp of the situation.

"Does anyone have a chisel!?" Ella asked, glancing around the inn frantically in search of any sort of assistance.

"I could melt the ice..." Alice offered.

"We don't want her burned and frozen!" Dren hissed at the other guild's Runemaster . Alice put her hands in the air as if she was being arrested, unaware of the Starlash medic's prickly nature.

"I don't want to be a Vessicle!" Hermonie called put in distress as the ice climbed to encase the entire lower half of her body. The Aracanist's violet eyes dialted in panic.

Icis sighed before taking one of her broadswords and hitting it straight where the ice met Hermonie's waist, shattering it. Clear Crystals of frozen water were now scattered across the Inn's Oakwood floors, glimmering against it like jewels.

"Thank you greatly!" Hermonie said with grand gratitude, eyes lighting up like stars.

"It was just to shut everyone up..." Icis muttered, her words cold as the ice that once kept Hermonie hostage. She slipped her broadsword back into its leather hilt as she sat back down. Dalla arrived with their food shortly after. As the group ate, Icis slowly worked her leash's chain away from Yusisrea, a chain link at a time. Chase, as he was staring at the Landsknecht in an intimate trance, noticed, but he said nothing of it.

The sun sank against the Tharian horizon as the two guilds went to their respective inn rooms to turn in for the night. The following day, they would begin a quest that would echo in Etrian history for centuries to come.

A/N- AH ITS SO SHORT I HATE IT BUT THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO PUT HERE. Ah well, chapter three should come soon! Hopefully.


	6. Into the Labyrinth

A/N- Yaaaaay things are moving! Now I won't exactly go by the book of the games, as characters can't get flung out of battle by the FOE and the such (Oops, mini spoiler~) so any hard core Etrian Odyssey fans I'm telling you not only am I using writer's privilege on adapting the story of Etrian Odyssey IV, I'm rehauling the fighting system. Thank chu.

The morning was warm and bright as the Starlash and Nightless guilds slowly awoke from their rest. The day was filled with potential and promise. But, alas, you'd never be able to tell that some of them were even adults by the time the day is over. Ah, well. One point of the matter is that these guilds have their own way of doing things, and there were some rules to follow, for lack of a better term.

**Rule 1**- Dindae is up by the crack of dawn, and one will have to deal with her rather, violent wake up calls.

"Get your lazy asses up! It's 8 AM and the path to Yggdrasil won't carve itself!" The hot-headed Landskecht called as she tied her red checked bandana around her golden blonde hair.

Dren went on to make a rather costly mistake by ignoring Dindae and continued sleeping, his black hair spread across the matress. Of course, Dindae wasn't going to have it.

"I SAID GET UP DUMBASS!" She shouted, kicking the medic's bedpost with full force, her brown leather boot almost shattering the wood.

Dren leaped awake at the vicious earthquake that had ruptured through his bed. "I'm awake! I'm awake! Do you have to be so violent!?" he said, startled. The boy was holding his hand over his chest to reassure himself that his heart hadn't popped out of his chest.

A devious smirk formed on Dindae's face. "I believe I do" she said with an almost diabolical chuckle.

Ella was already awake, skipping downstairs to the lobby. Her pink pigtails bounced to and fro as the bells on her anklets tinkled. Ob her upper body she only wore a pink bikini top that had satin draping down her arms, on her lower body were puffy pants decorated with beads and feathers.

Down in the lobby was Chase and Hermonie. Chase was waiting for the other explorers to arrive as Hermonie was trying to brush her long, silky white hair and tie it into the long curled pigtails that she normally doned.

Hayley fumbled downstairs , her brown and sky blue beanie flying off her head and onto the floor. The little Runemaster scrambled to pick it up, her ice blue hair whizzing past her as her brown lace up boots hit the floor.

Dindae then proceeded down the stairs, dragging the pint sized medic Dren behind her. Dren's lab coat was constantly being caught up in the stray splinters of the stairwell, but he was already in enough pain from the grip of Dindae's hand that he could barely feel the bits of wood poking through his coat and pants and prodding at his skin.

"That's a little extreme, don't you think, Dindae?" Ella asked, her green eyes showing concern for her little brother.

"He asked for it" Dindae growled as she finally left Dren to pick out his splinters.

"There's the Nightless guild..." Chase said as the guild mentioned walked down into the Inn's lobby.

First was Yusisrea, her periwinkle hair swaying as she walked, her black dress flowing behind her.

Following was Alice, a hat fitting more to a buccaneer than a Runemaster perched on her head, red hair attempting to cover up what wasn't already by her orchid doublet and black boots.

Next was Daimon and Roxas, the green haired brothers darting down into the lobby. The only way you could tell a difference between the two was their attire, Roxas in heavy armor, and Daimon in a lighter leather garb.

Alexander and Icis followed, Alexander 'walking' Icis, per say. Icis's red eyes were none to amused and Alexander handling her as if she were a wild dog.

**Rule 2**- Don't Anger Icis if you are fond of life. This is a big rule.

"Well, if everyone is gathered around, we can head out." Yusisrea said as she glanced around the room, doing a mental head count.

Hayley jumped up as she adjusted the beanie to fit properly on her head. "Yay exploring! " She chirped, twirling around in joy.

Hermonie's mouth curved in the slightest of smiles as she saw Hayley dance about. Seeing that someone so young was estatic about taking a task most adults shy away from was a glimmer of happiness for Hermonie, but also a dash of concern. She would feel responsible and guilty if the child happened to die on the battlefield, losing her life at a small age. "Please be careful, Hayley. We don't want our smallest member losing their life, or anyone for that matter." the Aracanist said.

"Can we just get a move on? " Chase asked, getting a tad impatient.

"Yeah, of course! Let's go!" Ella said, before grabbing a leather bag full of exploring nessceties such as Medicas and Nectars and running out of the inn, leaving the others in a mad dash to keep up with the dancer.

At the City Gates, there were quite a few Skyships parked, but the only two that mattered were the Skystar, belonging to Starlash, and the Dark-bringer, belonging to Nightless. The two guilds got into their respective Skyships and took to the air

**Rule 3**- Dindae is a very reckless driver. Beware.

"Does she always drive this wildly!?" Hermonie asked she clutched to the floor of the Skystar. Dindae was whirring it through the Windy Plains, having countless Bounding Beasts chasing after them. Fortunately for Nightless, Daimon actually knew the meaning of 'Caution'. Perhaps to much so. He was moving rather...slowly.

But, motion sickness and impaitnece aside, the group finally arrived at the Lush Woodlands, the first labyrinth in the path to Yggdrasil. It had the appearance of an untamed forest, with trees taller and buildings and vicious underbrush.

"YAY LET'S GO!" Ella cheered as she stepped out of the Skystar, apparently all the motion sickness leaving her body.

"Yipee!" Hayley chirped, skipping out of the Skystar, Hermonie following.

"Were going to get ourselves killed..." Dren sighed as he joined his guild.

"Your telling me..." Alexander added, with the same attitude as Dren. Are all Medics this pessimistic? The world my never know.

**Rule 4 (Final Rule)**- Never try this at home, kiddos.

For a possibly terrifying labyrinth, the atmosphere was almost...serene. Soft grasses and flowers brushed against the explorer's heels , as trees towered above them. Leaves danced in the wind as the cool breeze whirred past the two guilds. It was as if the labyrinth was attempting to lead them into a false sense of secruity.

Damion begun sketching out a map as the explorers made their way through the first floor of the treachorous labyrinth. Everything was quiet, far to quiet. A monster didn't attack them once. It made everyone rather uneasy.

"Where are all the monsters?" Yusisrea asked, constanly glancing around.

"Maybe an even bigger monster ate them all!" Hayley said, as everyone turned to stare at the little Runemaster.

"That's a...little irrational...don't you think?" Roxas muttered, before looking over to his brother. "Right?"

Damion shivered. "Irrational...but terrifying none the less..." he said, and that very moment a monstorous roar shoke the forest. Damion and Roxas clung to each other and screamed "IT'S THE MONSTER!" Hermonie, Ella, Dren, and Hayley too, screamed bloody murder.

Icis closed her eyes so no one could see her roll them. She unseathed her broadswords and head in the direction of the roar. "I'm going to investigate. If any of you cowards want to join me, I'll be that way." she said, pointing in the direction she was going before walking off.

"She's going to slay a monster without me!? No way! I'M supposed to be the hero! WAIT UP YOU LITTLE BITCH!" Dindae shouted. "Come on Chase get a move on!" The Landsknecht grabbed Chase's wrist and dragged him in Icis's direction, even though he would have gone regardless. Once the others had gotten over their intial shock, they too, followed.

The roar was louder than first percieved, as it took the two guilds a chunk of time spent weaving their way through twists, turns, and one too many dead ends until they met a wall of fallen wood.

"Well...there's our first obstacle..." Chase sighed, moving his hand around it. The wood was thick and coarse, like it would take a raging forest fire to make the slightest char in it.

"There's something behind it..." Yusisrea said, before the earth began shaking, little by little, before almost causing an earthquake. Chase darted away from the wood pile as a monsterous bear ripped it's claws through it until only splinters and the bears massive body remained.

"Oh..." Ella begun, mouth gaped open

"Great..." Hermonie gasped in fear.

"KUMITAN LOOK AT THAT THING!" Dindae said, eyes twinkling with wonder. "LET'S KILL IT!" Ah, Dindae, violence is always her first resort for everything. Little did she know was that the bear had its sights on Dren.

It swung a massive paw at the mini medic, sweeping him up and set him hurling into the forest beyond. "WHAAAAAAAAAAA!" Dren's screech got softer and softer as his silhouette disappeared in the sky.

"Okay...NOW we kill it!" Dindae said, unseathing her rapier. Hermonie grabbed the Landsknecht's wrist.

"No, we run!" Hermonie told Dindae as the Starlash and Nightless guilds proceeded to flee the potentially bloody battle.

The only thing that they could do now was either retreat to town or attempt to find Dren and risk another encounter. At this point, however, either descion was a bad one.

A/N- Well that was significantly longer thank Kumitan. if your wondering what this Kumitan is, if you talked the bartender in Etrian Odyssey IV, she would normally bid you farewell by saying "May Kumitan light your path" so I figured that it was the lands main deity. There's your explination =3


End file.
